According to Forbes, America’s supply chains are facing many challenges. One bright spot in the report, however, is fiber optic manufacturing.

The Departments of Commerce (DOC) and Homeland Security (DHS just released the report “Assessment of the Critical Supply Chains Supporting the U.S. Information and Communications Technology Industry,” part of a larger Biden Administration effort on critical supply chains.

The report describes many sobering challenges for the US in the production and manufacture of information communications technologies (ICT). High end ICT products are less likely to be made in USA, a key problem for strategic technologies like semiconductors for which domestic manufacture has declined from 37 percent of the world’s total to just 12 percent in the last 30 years. Moreover, the US share of global electronics manufacturing has decreased from 30 percent to 5 percent in the last 25 years, creating critical cyber-risk.

However, US-made fiber optic production remains a bright spot, mainly because US manufacturing of broadband is subsidized and assisted by the government. There remain risks, mainly from China, who could flood the market with their fiber optic equipment, causing prices to drop quickly.

Still, this means the US government can, and should, step up helping domestic companies boost their manufacturing in every sector, not just fiber optics.

Read more here.